My Shot

I am not throwing away my, shot I am not throwing away my, shot Eyo, I'm just like my country I'm young, scrappy an' hungry And I'm not throwing away my shot I'mma get a scholarship to King's College I probably shouldn't brag but dawg I amaze and astonish The problem is I got a lot o' brains but no polish Gotta holler just to be heard With every word, I drop knowledge I'm a diamond in the rough, a shining piece o' coal Tryna reach my goal, my power of speech; unimpeachable Only nineteen, but my mind is older These New York streets get colder, I shoulder Every burden, every disadvantage I've learned to manage, I don't have a gun to brandish I walk these streets famished The plan is to fan this spark into a flame But damn it's getting dark so let me spell out the name I am the, A-L, E-X, A-N, D! E-R, we are, meant to be! A colony that runs independently Meanwhile Britain keeps shittin' on us endlessly Essentially, they tax us relentlessly Then King George turns around, runs a spending spree He ain't ever gonna set his descendants free So there will be a revolution in this century Enter me! (He says in parenthesis) Don't be shocked when your history book mentions me I will lay down my life if it sets us free Eventually, you'll see my ascendancy And I am not throwing away my, shot I am not throwing away my, shot Eyo, I'm just like my country I'm young, scrappy and hungry And I'm not throwing away my shot I am not throwing away my, shot I am not throwing away my, shot Eyo, I'm just like my country I'm young, scrappy and hungry And I'm not throwing away my shot It's time to take a shot! I dream of life without a monarchy The unrest in France will lead to onarchy Onarchy? How you say, how you say? Oh-- anarchy! When I fight I make the other side panicky With my shot! Yo I'm a tailor's apprentice And I got y'all knuckleheads in loco parentis I'm joining the rebellion 'Cause I know it's my chance To socially advance Instead of sowing some pants I'm gon' take a shot! Ey but we'll never be truly free Until those in bondage have the same rights as you and me You and I, do or die Wait 'til I sally in on a stallion With the first black battalion Have another shot! Geniuses, lower your voices You keep out of trouble and you double your choices I'm with you, but the situation is fraught You've got to be carefully taught If you talk, you're gonna get shot Burr, check what we got Mr Lafayette, hard-rock like Lancelot I think your pants look hot Laurens I like you a lot Let's hatch a plot blacker than the kettle calling the pot What are the odds the gods would put us all in one spot? Pah, put a squat on conventional wisdom, like it or not A bunch of revolutionary manumission abolistionists Give me a position show me where the ammunition is! Oh am I talking too loud? Sometimes I get overexcited Shoot of at the mouth, I never had a group of friends before I promise that I'll make you all proud Let's get this guy in front of a crowd! And I am not throwing away my, shot I am not throwing away my, shot Eyo, I'm just like my country I'm young, scrappy and hungry And I'm not throwing away my shot I am not throwing away my, shot I am not throwing away my, shot Eyo, I'm just like my country I'm young, scrappy and hungry And I'm not throwing away my shot Everybody sing! Whoa-whoa, whoa-oa-oa (ey!) Whoa-oa-oa (woo!) Whoa-oa-oa (say let 'em hear ya!) Yeah (let's go!) Whoa-whoa, whoa-oa-oa (I said shout it to the rooftops) Whoa-oa-oa (said to the rooftops!) Whoa-oa-oa (oh come on!) Yeah (oh come on, let's go!) Rise up when you're living on your knees, you rise up Tell your brother that he's gotta rise up Tell your sister that she's gotta rise up When are these colonies gonna rise up? (Whoa-whoa) When are these colonies gonna rise up? (Whoa-oa-oa) When are these colonies gonna rise up? (Whoa-oa-oa) When are these colonies gonna rise up? (Whoa-oa-oa) Rise up? I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory When's it gonna get me? In my sleep, seven feet ahead of me? If I see it coming do I run or do I let it be? Is it like a beat without a melody? See I never thought I'd live past twenty Where I come from some get half as many Ask anybody, why we're living fast And we laugh, reach for a flask We have to make this moment last That's plenty Scratch that, this is not a moment it's the movement Where all the hungriest brothers with something to prove went Foes oppose us, we take an honest stand We row like Moses, claiming our Promised Land And, if we win our independence Is that a guarantee of freedom for our descendants? Or will the blood we shed begin an endless Cycle of vengeance and death, with no defendants? I know the action in the street is exciting But Jezus, between all the bleedin' and fighting I've been reading and writing We need to handle our financial situation Are we nation of states? What's the state of our nation? I'm past patiently waiting I'm passionately smashing every expectation Every action's an act of creation I'm laughing in the face of casualties and sorrow For the first time I'm thinking past tomorrow And I am not throwing away my, shot I am not throwing away my, shot Eyo, I'm just like my country I'm young, scrappy and hungry And I'm not throwing away my shot We're gonna rise up, time to take a shot (not throwing away my, shot) We're gonna rise up, time to take a shot (not throwing away my, shot) We're gonna rise up, rise up It's time to take a shot Rise up, rise up It's time to take a shot Rise up, it's time to take shot (whoa-oa-oa) Rise up, take a shot, shot, shot (whoa-oa-oa) Eyo it's time to take a shot Time to take a shot And I am not throwing away my Not throwing away my shot!